by Shelley Bennett
Naming a building or facility after someone can be tricky. Everyone involved will have an opinion about who is worthy of this honor and those in charge may even have other motivators, like financing, influencing their choice.
That’s why it’s taken over ten years to get the idea of naming the Lassen High School gym after former coach and teacher Bob Levada on the agenda of the next LUHSD board meeting.
For some of you, memories of Bob Levada will include his tenure as a teacher and football and basketball coach at Lassen High until his retirement in 1984. During his twenty-five-year career at LHS, Bob also served as the Athletic Director and was a mentor to many young coaches.
He was instrumental in organizing the Lassen Invitational Tournament (LIT), a huge basketball event drawing teams from all over northern CA and Nevada. Bob served many roles, often sweeping the court at halftimes and even driving the bus if needed. Many of the closets and storage spaces in the big gym are of his design and construction.
He and his wife Mary were known to take in players who needed a place to stay or provide a hot meal when they were hungry.
My favorite memories are of Bob assisting my husband Leo when he took over as the head Varsity Boys basketball coach in 2004. Bob was patient and soft spoken, sitting next to the players on the bench and explaining game strategy to them.
He taught my husband about coaching as well. I often saw him walking to the gym after school so he could get it ready for practice. Bob was very attentive to the surface of the gym floor and even built a cleaning device out of spare wood, rope, and towels to make sure it was clean at halftime.
In the off season, he still enjoyed fishing and gardening and oftentimes, Leo would stop by with our two boys to visit or plan the upcoming season. Jacob was about 3 or 4 at the time and started calling Bob “old coach”. I remember Bob’s chuckle when we told him, as he knew it was meant with affection.
Bob took a liking to Jake and would often sit by him on the bench, imparting basketball wisdom to our toddler. I don’t have a picture of the two, but I can remember Bob reaching down to ruffle Jacob’s red hair as they broke down a play.
What stands out to me is that twenty years after his retirement, one that was supposed to be filled with fishing and time away from LHS, Bob continued to devote his life to our local students and athletes. It was never just a job or paycheck for him, it was his legacy.
And it was more than sports. Bob taught his athletes to have integrity on and off the field, accept responsibility for both wins and losses, and to generally be “good kids” as he called them. In an article from the Lassen Advocate, athletic director John Kingston commented that his sons were “better for the experience of having him as a coach.”
When Bob passed away in 2014, it was just a few days before Jacob’s first high school basketball game as a Grizzly. I like to imagine that old coach had a front row seat.
Thanks to my dad, Vern Templeton and Donna Morelini, LHS Alumni Association president, for the information for this article. I also used an article “A Winner Will Retire” written by Terry Wood from the June 8, 1984 volume of the Lassen Advocate. If you would like to hear more, the board meeting is scheduled for August 13th at 6:00 at the LUHSD board room.
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